Conversations with Monsters (Paperback or Softback)

What if you could actually meet and speak with the monsters of legend-and the monsters of history?

In Conversations with Monsters, Dr. Holmes describes a series of extraordinary encounters that begin with a chance meeting with Dracula in Transylvania and expand into a journey through myth, horror, and the underworld. What starts as a single conversation becomes an obsession to understand beings long feared, misunderstood, or condemned, both real and fictional.

Holmes engages in thought-provoking dialogues with iconic figures such as Dracula, Medusa, Frankenstein's monster, werewolves, witches, the Grim Reaper, and Egyptian mummies, reframing classic horror archetypes through empathy and inquiry. These fictional encounters are paired with chapters grounded in historical research, where Holmes descends into Hades-protected by the three-headed dog Cerberus-to confront real individuals whose actions shaped the world.

Through conversations with Napoleon Bonaparte, Henry VIII and his six wives, Galileo, Isaac Newton, and Albert Einstein, alongside dark figures such as Torquemada, Leopold II, Joseph Stalin, and Adolf Hitler, the book explores genius, cruelty, power, and responsibility.

Blending fantasy, horror, and historically accurate fact, Conversations with Monsters presents education through imaginative storytelling. Ideal for readers who enjoy gothic fiction, speculative history, and intellectually curious horror, this book invites readers to reconsider who the true monsters are-and what can be learned by listening to them.

Harold Hovel is a retired scientist who has written 6 other books, including a textbook on solar energy and two other books with Outskirts Press: a fiction novel about fighting pirates in the 17th century and a non-fiction description of how helping animals, both domestic and wild, ultimately benefits people. He lives with his wife Andrea and a host of cats and dogs in Katonah, New York.